Ice maker construction

ABSTRACT

An ice maker of the type employing a refrigerated chamber and harvesting auger positioned with its flight in scraping relation to an inner wall of the refrigerated chamber for continuously scraping ice particles from the wall thereof, and being provided with a vertical shaft for supporting the harvesting auger. Transfer means receive discharge from the harvesting auger and transfer the same under pressure developed by the harvesting auger into a separate compression chamber disposed adjacent to the refrigerated chamber. A helical compression auger rotatable within the compression chamber drives the ice product in the form of a confined columnar path through a restricting orifice to form a column of hard ice which may be broken into short lengths by any suitable means to obtain &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;ice cubes.&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; A single common driving motor may be utilized to drive both augers or, if desired, separate gear means for the compression auger may be provided and driven by a separate motor unit or by a power takeoff from a drive source utilized for the harvesting auger.

Elite States atent Clearman [45] Apr. 11, 1972 [5 ICE i R CONSTRUCTIONPrimary ExaminerWilliam E. Wayner Attorney-l-lill, Sherman, Meroni,Gross & Simpson, James S. [72] lnvemor' Jack E Clearman StevensvlneMlch' Nettleton, Thomas E. Turcotte, Burton H. Baker, Donald W. [73]Assignees Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, Thomas, Gene A. Heth,Franklin C. Harter, Anthony Niewyk Mich. and Robert L. Judd [22] Filed:Oct. 17, 1969 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl' 867149 An ice maker of the typeemploying a refrigerated chamber and harvesting auger positioned withits flight in scraping rela- [52] U.S. Cl. ..62/320, 62/348 tion to aninner wall of the refrigerated chamber for continu- [51] Int. Cl. ..F25c1/ 14 ously scraping ice particles from the wall thereof, and being [58]Fleld of Search 2/354, 320, 348;74/665 provided with a vertical shaftfor supporting the harvesting auger. Transfer means receive dischargefrom the harvesting [56] References Cited auger and transfer the sameunder pressure developed by the harvesting auger into a separatecompression chamber UNITED STATES PATENTS disposed adjacent to therefrigerated chamber. A helical com- 1 963 842 6/1934 Gay 62/354 Xpression auger rotatable within the compression chamber 1 l9 3/1964 Xdrives the ice product in the form of a confined columnar path 3 3 7 272 9 walker I 2/353 X through a restricting orifice 10 form a column ofhard ice 989 486 4/191 1 Crandell ..74/665 x which may be bmke" lengthsby any suitable means to obtain ice cubes." A single common drivingmotor may be FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS utilized to drive bothaugers or, if desired, separate gear means for the compression auger maybe provided and driven by a 409,499 5/1934 Great Britam ..62/354separate motor unit or by a power talwoff from a drive Source utilizedfor the harvesting auger.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 1 1 m2 SHEET 1 BF 2 BY 4 w ICEMAKER CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the InventionThis invention relates generally to ice maker constructions.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art has numerous examples ofmachines arranged to continuously produce flakes of ice or other frozenmaterials. Most prior art structures show arrangements wherein iceproducts are harvested and compressed in a single unitary casing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an ice makerwherein an ice product is produced by scraping inner walls of acylindrical freezing compartment with peripheral edges of helicalflights of a substantially vertically disposed harvesting auger. A wetmass of ice particles including slush and chunks, is axially advancedout of the freezing chamber and into a transferring means forming anoutlet for the freezing chamber and having a configuration for laterallytransferring the mass of ice particles under pressure developed by theharvesting auger and into a compression chamber disposed laterally ofthe freezing compartment.

The mass of ice particles collects in the transferring means untilsufficient pressure develops to move the soft ice into an orbital pathof a compression auger where it is then picked up and squeezed through arestricting orifice to emerge as a column of hard ice. The column ofhard ice may have a rectangular, square or other cross section asdetermined by the cross section of the orifice, and means are providedfor transversely breaking the column of ice into discrete lengths of anysuitable dimension to form ice cubes. Excess water removed by thecompression auger is returned to the freezing chamber.

The transferring means are characterized by a wall surface spacedaxially from a discharge end of the harvesting auger and obliquelyformed relative to a longitudinal axis thereof. The mass of iceparticles axially advancing from the harvesting auger is pressed againstthe obliquely formed wall surface and thereby given a lateral componentof movement toward the compression chamber. The continuous advancing ofthe mass of ice particles under the pressure developed by the harvestingauger eliminates the tendency of the transferring means to becomeclogged with agglomerated ice particles.

Furthermore, the ice maker of the present invention is characterized bythe provision of a drive means for the two augers which may compriseeither a common driving motor or a separate motor for each respectiveauger. In one embodiment of the present invention, separate gear drivemeans are driven by a common motor, and in an alternative embodiment,each auger has its own motor and gear reduction unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings forming apart of this specification and in which like reference characters areemployed to designate like parts throughout the same:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of an ice maker construction utilizingthe improvements of one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of an ice maker construction embodyingthe features of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, animproved ice maker 10, embodying the features of the present invention,desirably includes a generally upright cylindrical freezing cylinder 11having disposed in circumjacent relation thereto coils 12 of anevaporator forming part of a refrigeration system.

Water is introduced into the cylinder 11 through an inlet conduit 13disposed near the base of the cylinder. The

cylinder 11 is mounted in a generally upright position on a drivehousing 14 by suitable fastening means such as bolts 15. Within thedrive housing 14 there is a centrally disposed shaft 16 to which iskeyed a gear 17 which meshes with a wonn 18 mounted on a shaft 19, thelatter being driven by a suitable motor (not shown).

A lower end portion of the shaft 16 is supported within a suitablebearing means disposed within a bearing housing 21. Additional supportfor the shaft 16 is provided by a roller bearing assembly 22 and aspacer element 23 disposed between the gear 18 and the bearing unit 22.Water is prevented from entering the drive housing 14 by suitable sealmeans including a flexible shaft seal 24 engaging an outer periphery ofthe shaft 16.

An auger 27 is connected to the shaft 16 and projects upwardly into thefreezing cylinder 11. The auger 27 has a cylindrical portion 28 spacedinwardly from a cylindrical, refrigerated wall 29 of the cylinder 11.The cylindrical portion 28 has an outer diameter relatively larger thanthe diameter of the shaft 16 and carries two flights of helicallydisposed blades 31 and 32 having scraping edges 33 which scrape againstthe inner wall 29, thereby to harvest a thin film of ice which forms onthe refrigerated surface whenever water is circulated in the freezingchamber. Rotation of the harvesting auger 27 progressively advances amixture of ice particles, including slush and chunks, upwardly toward anupper end portion of the cylinder 11 and into a transferring meansgenerally indicated at 35.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, thetransferring means 35 desirably includes a cover 36 overlying the upperend portion of the cylinder 11 and providing a tapered wall surface 37formed to laterally move the mass of ice particles advanced upwardly bythe harvesting auger into a transfer conduit 38. The cover 36 mayinclude a central bore 39 providing a bearing surface in which an upperend portion 41 of the shaft 16 is journalled. The wall surface 37 isformed obliquely to a longitudinal axis of the harvesting auger 27 andforms an action surface which extends upwardly from an upper terminaledge 42 of the harvesting auger and toward the transfer conduit 38.

An outlet aperture 43 is formed in the cylinder 11 at one end of thetransfer conduit 38 and is characterized by a bottom wall 44 parallelwith the upper terminal edge 42 of the harvesting auger 27 and a topwall 45 parallel with the uppermost extent of the obliquely formed wall37. The transfer conduit 38 extends downwardly and laterally outwardlyfrom the aperture 43 and interconnects the cylinder 11 with acompression chamber 46, the latter being disposed laterally of thecylinder 11. Also, the transfer conduit 38 provides an inner bore 38acoextensive with the aperture 43 and an aperture 50 providing inletmeans into the compression chamber 46 at the other end of the conduit38.

Furthermore, in accordance with the principles of the present invention,the compression chamber 46 is provided within a cylinder 47 disposedparallel to and laterally spaced from the cylinder 11. The compressioncylinder 47 is mounted on a separate gear housing 48 by suitablefastening means such as bolts 49. A shaft 51 is disposed centrallywithin the gear housing 48 and has a gear 52 keyed thereto and meshedwith a worm 53 mounted on a shaft 54, the latter being driven by asuitable separate motor 55. The shaft 51 is supported within suitablebearing means in a manner similar to that for the shaft 16, and sealmeans are provided for preventing water from entering the gear housing48.

A helical flight 46 encircles the shaft 22 and projects upwardly throughthe compression chamber 46 without any additional bearing support,thereby to provide a compression auger. The auger provided by thehelical flight 56 has an outer peripheral edge 57 disposed in closeproximity to an inner cylindrical wall 58 of the compression chamber 46.

The mass of ice particles harvested and axially advanced by the auger 27collects within the transferring means 35 and is pushed against theobliquely formed wall 37 until sufficient pressure develops to laterallymove the soft ice through the transfer conduit 38 and into an orbitalpath of the compression auger flights 56. The angle of inclination ofthe obliquely formed wall 37 should be formed so that the axiallyupwardly directed pressure created by the harvesting auger 27 develops asubstantial lateral force as the mass of ice particles is pressedagainst the obliquely formed wall, thereby to transfer the ice particlesunder the pressure developed by the harvesting auger.

The compression auger 56 picks up the mass of ice particles deliveredthereto by the transferring means 35 and squeezes the same through arestricting orifice 61, thereby to remove excess water and form a columnof hard ice emerging from a discharge outlet 62. The emerging column ofhard ice may have a rectangular, square or other cross section asdetermined by the cross section of the discharge outlet 62.

To form ice cubes," the emerging column of hard ice is directed upwardlyagainst a breaking means which transversely shears the column into shortlengths. The breaking means may include a member 63 projecting upwardlyfrom a terminal edge 64 of the discharge conduit 62 and extending abouta relatively small segment of the periphery of the outlet conduit. Themember 63 is characterized by a surface 66 slanting inwardly of thedischarge conduit 62 so that an uppermost edge of the emerging column ofhard ice engages thereagainst, thereby to laterally direct the emergingcolumn of hard ice for creating a shearing force substantially along aline parallel with the terminal edge 64 of the outlet conduit. In thismanner short lengths of the emerging column of hard ice are broken toform ice cubes such as 67.

Excess water squeezed from the mass of ice particles by the dischargeorifice 61 drains from the compression chamber 46 through the conduit 68which extends from an aperture 69 disposed near the base of thecompression cylinder 46 and down to an aperture 71 formed in thecylinder 11 adjacent the inlet conduit 13. In this manner, the excesswater squeezed from the mass of ice particles as the same is compressedinto a column of hard ice returns to the freezing cylinder 11 and mixeswith the inlet water.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 2, an ice maker constructed inaccordance with the principles of an alternative embodiment of thepresent invention, includes a separate gear drive for the compressionauger which is driven by a power take-off from the motor unit for theharvesting auger. The detailed construction of the freezing cylinder,harvesting auger, transfer means, and compression means of this form ofthe present invention are identical in construction to that describedfor the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, and therefore, likeparts are identified with like reference numerals to which a prime hasbeen added.

It is contemplated by this embodiment of the present invention, to drivethe compression unit by a power take-off from the drive means of themain harvesting auger 27. The compression cylinder 37 has a bottom wall76 characterized by a centrally disposed bore 77 through which a shaft78 extends. Seal means are provided for preventing water from passingthrough the aperture 77. The compression auger flights 56 are carried byan upper end portion of the shaft 78, and a lower end portion thereof asat 79 is approximately coextensive with a lower end portion as at 81 ofthe shaft 16 which carries the harvesting auger 27.

The drive housing 14' is laterally extended and supports an extendedlower portion 82 of the compression cylinder 47 which is fastenedthereto by a suitable fastening means such as bolts 83. The lower end ofthe shaft 78 has a gear 84 keyed thereto and disposed in meshingrelationship with a worm 85 which in turn meshes with the gear 17' keyedonto the harvesting auger shaft 16. A single motor 86 drives the worm85, thereby to provide a common motor means for driving the separategears 17' and 84 provided respectively for the harvesting auger 27 andthe compression auger 56.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that the ice maker construction ofthe present invention provides a lateral flow arrangement whereby iceparticles harvested by the harvesting auger are laterally forced underpressure developed by the continuous, axial discharge of particles bythe harvesting auger. Thus, the mass of ice particles is smoothly movedinto an orbital path of a laterally disposed compression auger,Furthermore, the construction of the present invention provides aseparate compression unit having its own gear means which may be drivenby either a power take-off from the drive unit of the main harvestingauger or by a separate motor unit. The configuration of the compressionunit permits a main harvesting unit to be formed in a manner forreceiving interchangeable compression units adapted for providingvarious ice products, for example ice cubes, chipped ice, flaked ice andthe like. auger. Furthermore,

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in theart, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope ofthe patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably andproperly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An ice maker comprising:

chamber means having separate vertically disposed laterally spacedchambers including a first freezing chamber having an uprightrefrigerated cylinder wall,

a second compression chamber spaced laterally from said first chamberand having a centrally disposed top outlet and upright axiallyconverging walls to form a compression zone subjacent to butcommunicating with said top outlet,

gear box means having reduction gears therein and disposed below saidchambers,

and first and second shafts extending upwardly out of said gear boxmeans and projecting into said corresponding first and second chambers,respectively,

said first shaft having a harvesting auger corotatable therewith andincluding flights in operative proximity to said refrigerated wall,thereby to harvest an ice product and advance it upwardly,

said second shaft having screw blades corotatable therewith and disposedfor rotation in said compression chamber for compressing ice product andfor axially directing a compacted dehydrated column of ice out of saidtop outlet in an upward direction,

intermediate transfer means between the top of said freezing chamber andthe bottom of said compression chamber including means to mechanicallytransfer ice product harvested in said first chamber by lateraldisplacement from the top of said first chamber to the bottom of saidsecond chamber,

water means for supplying water to said freezing chamber and includingconduit means for draining water removed from the ice product in saidcompression chamber,

motor means to rotatably drive said shaft thereby to harvest ice productin said first chamber and to compact and dehydrate the same in saidsecond chamber,

and breaking means outwardly of said top outlet to break 'the emergingcolumn of ice into utilitarian pieces of selected size and shape.

2. An ice maker as defined in claim 1 wherein said motor means comprisesa common motor and separate gear connections between said motor and eachof said shafts to rotatably drive said shafts at selected speeds for thepurposes set forth.

3. An ice maker as defined in claim 1 wherein said motor means comprisesa separate motor for each shaft, and each motor has a driving connectionto a corresponding shaft to rotatably drive said shafts at selectedspeeds for the purposes set forth.

4. An ice maker as defined in claim 1 wherein said conduit meansconnects said compression chamber to said freezing chamber.

1. An ice maker comprising: chamber means having separate verticallydisposed laterally spaced chambers including a first freezing chamberhaving an upright refrigerated cylinder wall, a second compressionchamber spaced laterally from said first chamber and having a centrallydisposed top outlet and upright axially converging walls to form acompression zone subjacent to but communicating with said top outlet,gear box means having reduction gears therein and disposed below saidchambers, and first and second shafts extending upwardly out of saidgear box means and projecting into said corresponding first and secondchambers, respectively, said first shaft having a harvesting augercorotatable therewith and including flights in operative proximity tosaid refrigerated wall, thereby to harvest an ice product anD advance itupwardly, said second shaft having screw blades corotatable therewithand disposed for rotation in said compression chamber for compressingice product and for axially directing a compacted dehydrated column ofice out of said top outlet in an upward direction, intermediate transfermeans between the top of said freezing chamber and the bottom of saidcompression chamber including means to mechanically transfer ice productharvested in said first chamber by lateral displacement from the top ofsaid first chamber to the bottom of said second chamber, water means forsupplying water to said freezing chamber and including conduit means fordraining water removed from the ice product in said compression chamber,motor means to rotatably drive said shaft thereby to harvest ice productin said first chamber and to compact and dehydrate the same in saidsecond chamber, and breaking means outwardly of said top outlet to breakthe emerging column of ice into utilitarian pieces of selected size andshape.
 2. An ice maker as defined in claim 1 wherein said motor meanscomprises a common motor and separate gear connections between saidmotor and each of said shafts to rotatably drive said shafts at selectedspeeds for the purposes set forth.
 3. An ice maker as defined in claim 1wherein said motor means comprises a separate motor for each shaft, andeach motor has a driving connection to a corresponding shaft torotatably drive said shafts at selected speeds for the purposes setforth.
 4. An ice maker as defined in claim 1 wherein said conduit meansconnects said compression chamber to said freezing chamber.